He can be shy. (We dare not say cowardly.) Which might explain why John the lion, one of the biggest stars of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s new “Africa” exhibit, never made an appearance during a preview Thursday. He was holed up in a holding area that’s disguised as a rock.

The best guess is it might take him a week or so to get comfortable enough in his new surroundings to venture outside. Then he’ll be brought back in, and the zoo’s new female lion, Imani, gets a chance to explore the grounds.

By fall the pair should be on display together.

They’re one of the story lines of “Africa.” Here’s everything you need to know:

The big picture

The zoo’s largest exhibit – 8 acres – is being built in five phases on a former parking lot. The third phase opened Saturday.

2008: Giraffe Ridge opened with a raised viewing deck that put visitors at eye-level with giraffes.

2010: An expanded Cheetah Encounter opened, as well as an expanded yard for giraffes and a new flamingo exhibit.

Still to come:

Phase IV, projected to open in 2014, will bring zebras, gazelles, antelope and a variety of African birds into the exhibit.

Phase V, projected to open in 2015, will feature hippos and Nile crocodiles.

Phase III top draws

• African lions. Imani is from the St. Louis Zoo, where she was born July 17, 2011; John is from the National Zoo in Washington, where he was born Aug. 31, 2010.

Best view: A 12-foot-tall glass wall offers the potential for visitors to stand just inches from the lions.

Fun facts: Only males have manes. In the wild, females are the primary hunters in the pride, a family unit that can consist of three males and a dozen or so females.

Conservation status: Vulnerable. Estimates of the number of lions in sub-Saharan Africa range from 16,500 to 47,000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An estimated 30 percent of the population has been lost the past two decades because of habitat loss and killing by humans.

• Giraffes. Two females arrived in April: Cece, born Feb. 1, 2011, at the Kansas City Zoo; and Jambo, born June 20, 2011, at the Louisville Zoo.

They join the Cincinnati Zoo’s existing giraffe family: Lulu, born here Oct. 12, 2012, and her parents, both of whom arrived here in 2008. Tessa came from the Houston Zoo; Kimba from the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island.

Best view: An expanded giraffe deck not only offers visitors shade, but reaches out into the giraffe yard.

Fun fact: Giraffes typically sleep less than two hours a day.

Conservation status: The zoo’s giraffes are of the Masai subspecies. On its list of threatened species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists giraffes as a species of “least concern.”

• African cheetah exhibit. This area, with grassland, a waterfall and creek, is where you’ll find a cheetah when it’s not demonstrating its speed at nearby Cheetah Encounter.

• Circle of Love. This is an animal encounter area where visitors can meet African animals from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Green features

• A 400,000-gallon retention basin under “Africa,” paid for with a $1.4 million Metropolitan Sewer District grant, captures rainwater from one-third of the zoo grounds and recycles it.

• Base Camp Café earned four stars from the Green Restaurant Association, its highest rating for features that include a full recycling program; food served in compostable containers; an on-site greenhouse that provides year-round fresh vegetables.

Paying for it

“Africa” is being built with private donations from corporations, foundations and the like. About $20 million of the exhibit’s total estimated cost of $32 million has been raised. Cost of Phase III was about $10.3 million.